


Heights

by punch_kicker15



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, implied unrequited Willow/Spike
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-29
Updated: 2019-07-29
Packaged: 2020-07-25 18:50:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20030644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punch_kicker15/pseuds/punch_kicker15
Summary: Set between S5 and S6. It's obvious why Willow’s still fighting the good fight. It’s less obvious why Spike’s still helping her.





	Heights

Willow perched atop the crypt, scanning the area for demons.

Across the cemetery, a vampire rounded the corner. It looked familiar--oh, it was Jay, the loud guy from her drama class who really loved Mamet plays. Poor Jay.

_ Coming up on your right, _ she thought to Spike.

Vampire-Jay ripped the stake away from Spike, and jammed it into Spike’s hand. Spike shouted something incoherent, yanked out the stake, and hauled his arm back. Her former classmate started to back away, but too late--Spike plunged the stake into the other vampire’s heart, dusting him instantly.

“Think that’s the last of them,” Spike yelled to her. 

The only movement she could see was a coyote digging through a trash can.  _ Coast is clear,  _ she thought to him.

She lowered the rope ladder over the side of the crypt, and climbed down. As she reached the bottom loops of the ladder, Spike grabbed her by the arms and helped her to the ground.

He’d been running around all night. If anything, she should have been offering him help. It was like something a Byronic hero might do. Like Heathcliff, in the good parts of Wuthering Heights, not the parts with the intergenerational revenge scheme.

_ You’re rather romantic, aren’t you? _ The thought popped into her head, and for one uncomfortable moment, she wondered if she’d transmitted that thought to him, a telepathic extension of her tendency to babble everything that came to  mind.

Spike’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, so it seemed she managed to keep that thought to herself.

But it kept rattling through her  brain.

She knew why she’d asked him to test her telepathy in the field. Unlike Xander and Anya, he didn’t let a little discomfort with mind-reading get in the way of fighting demons. And unlike Giles, Spike wasn’t talking about leaving Sunnydale.

Why had Spike agreed to help, tonight, and apparently forever? He didn’t like any of them that much, except Dawn. As far as he knew, Buffy was gone forever. And yet he stayed. The only reason could be his love for Buffy.

A feeling of irrational jealousy flared up. Buffy inspired that eternal love and loyalty, even if she didn’t return it. Willow’s own loves felt inconstant in comparison. Oz had left. Twice. And she couldn’t shake the fear that Tara would dump her if they had one more big fight.

Blood rushed to her head, and it started to pound, like a hammer striking against her skull. Tara would probably call it a sign of doing too much magic. More likely, it was just Willow’s guilty conscience. How could she think such terrible things about her dead best friend, or about her girlfriend?

She stared out at the tombstones, at the spindly trees in the distance, looking for something, anything to pull her away from her current train of thought. Her gaze landed on Spike’s hand. “Let me get those splinters out.”

He shrugged. “No need. Vampire healing, remember?”

“But it wouldn’t hurt to speed it up,” she insisted. 

She took his hand and focused her thoughts on the bits of wood.  _ Just like floating a bunch of roses--really, really teensy roses.  _ The splinters flew away somewhere--she wasn’t sure where, but it didn’t really matter. What did matter was that she was being useful, which always helped distract her from distressing thoughts.

“Thanks,” Spike muttered. 

“It’s the least I could do.” The least she could do now, while Buffy was still stranded in hell. The stars weren’t in alignment yet, and they still needed the Urn of Osiris. But someday soon she’d pull off the biggest spell of her life, and Heathcliff would have his Cathy back.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for buffyversebingo, prompt: stranded


End file.
